Bonds of Blood and Fire
by Javelinia777
Summary: A story that follows our favorite characters through their journey for the jewel shards, with an unusual twist. Our favorite characters have been trapped by a very cunning demon. What does it want from them? How will they escape? InuyashaxKagome, MirokuxSango, Possibly SesshomaruxRin.
1. Blood

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA**

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><p>Chapter 1: Blood<p>

It was another warm sunny day, when Inuyasha and his companions sighted a village settled at the base of a rolling, green hill. Their vantage point at the top of the hill gave them a clear view of the goings on below. "Why this village is beautiful!" exclaimed Kagome, clapping her hands together, her eyes shining with sheer delight. "There must be at least a hundred houses here. Look there, the big ones are all clustered around a small lake and in turn surrounded by many cozy-looking cottages. And they are in all sorts of colors! I can make out pink, blue, yellow…"

"It's too big for a village," said Miroku, standing next to her, "It looks more like a small town and quite prosperous at that. Even from here I can make out that most of the buildings are two-storied. The buildings surrounding that central lake are rather ornate. Why one of them is almost five stories high and a pagoda at that! Its multiple roofs are done with green shingles and the eaves are wondrously rounded at the ends. The walls seem to be made of stone and painted in such an astonishing shade of scarlet. And just at look at that long finial at the top. It seems to be made of gold!" He paused for a bit, collecting his breath and taking the time to observe more of the unbelievable scenery before him.

"The rest of the big buildings appear to be wider than that eye-catching pagoda; though much less ornate, or ostentatious depending on your taste. They are pretty huge though and I am guessing that they are taverns and houses for the leading men of the town. There's a stone wall surrounding the whole town and encapsulating all the dwellings. It even has ramparts and a barbican. Where most villages and towns make do with simple mud and wood fences and a few guard towers for protection, all of this gives off a hint of opulence. In all, I would say that this is a very ambitious little town hoping to attract more people and trade, to grow by leaps and bound," said Miroku, finishing his assessment.

"Yes," said Sango, "it certainly looks well defended. That stone wall is quite formidable. They look tiny from up here but I can still make out that those figures patrolling around the gate are armored soldiers. I'll need to get closer though, to get a good measure of them. Nevertheless, you can't mistake all those paddy fields engulfing the whole town in a huge circle. We are almost at the edge of them. And there are plainly dressed peasants hard at work in these fields. Since we can't see any simpler dwellings nearby I'm sure they live in this town or village. No matter how prosperous it appears, this town still relies on agriculture as its primary occupation.

"Yes, those indeed are peasants," conceded Miroku "and it's a good guess that they belong to the town. But they could have been hired by people living in the town. I think this primarily did start off as an agricultural village many years ago and used to be much smaller. This medium-sized town that we see now has surely arisen from it."

"Maybe these peasants live in those colorful cottages that I first remarked on," said Kagome. "They are smaller and plainer then rest of the buildings, plus they are far from the centre and closer to the walls."

"Perhaps you're right Kagome," said Miroku, "I think we should stop in this remarkable place and rest awhile. It's sure to have many taverns and…"

"Can you sense any fragments of the shikon jewel, Kagome," said Inuyasha, always to the point, breaking into Miroku's tirade.

"Um… no Inuyasha."

"And there's no demonic aura nearby, either. So let's move on. No point in wasting precious time here," said Inuyasha gruffly as he abruptly turned away from the site and strode off in the opposite direction without so much a by your leave from his companions.

"Wait, Inuyasha," shouted Kagome, causing the hanyou to halt mid-stride.

'Now what?' he thought. 'She's going to pester me to stop in that stupid village-town so that she can sleep in a nice clean bed and have _real_ food for once. What is real food anyway? That spicy, savory stuff they make in these taverns isn't all that great anyway. How is it any more real from all that game I capture? Food is just food right. It's always the same whenever we come across anything that passes for civilization. Along with the others, I'm always outnumbered. What is it with these pathetic humans? Why do they always wanna relax along with good food and soft beds and listen to that stupid music that they play in some towns?'

"Inuyasha, you just finished a battle with the demon Ryukotsusei. It was one of the toughest battles you've fought yet and I think you really should have some rest before we start off for another," said Sango, in a pleading, albeit concerned voice.

"Well I emerged from it unscathed, didn't I?" said the hanyou, turning towards them with raised eyebrows and a wide grin, "besides, I just learned the backlash wave of Tessaiga. I want to practice it on a really strong demon and for that I need to find one. And one definitely won't come to me if I waste away in this town. So…"

"Well then go ahead Inuyasha. _You_ maybe bursting with energy but _I'm_ exhausted. Sleeping on cold, hard forest floors and living on pitiful game instead of a balanced meal day in and day out isn't exactly my idea of fun. So I'm going off to that town while you go hunt your demon and I'm staying there until I want. You can come back for me when your killing spree is over," said Kagome and mimicking his technique of not waiting for a response, she bounded off in the direction of the town. The others followed her wordlessly, astonished by her guile though nonetheless pleased and leaving a gaping Inuyasha in their wake.

'Why that… that girl,' he thought cupping his fists and gritting his teeth. She knew he wouldn't leave her and gave him no choice but to follow her to the silly town against his wishes. Cursing silently he followed the rest in as slow a pace as he could manage. 'There go another few days down the drain. As soon as we get there, Kagome and Sango will head off to the nearest inn or tavern or wherever there's good food and warm baths available. Miroku will try to sneak off to the nearest brothel, or tea house or whatever. Shippo goes wherever Kagome goes, likewise with Sango and Kirara. He could join them or just make himself scarce. No one really cared. They only needed him when there were demons to be slain or bandits to take care of. So engrossed would they be in their humanly pleasure pursuits that they'd completely forget about him… at least until they needed him.

'And why should they?' his conscience asked. The only thing that you ever do is complain. How long are you guys gonna take? You're just lazy Kagome. You humans are pathetic weaklings… and on and on and on. No wonder they hated his company.

'But I'm right,' reasoned Inuyasha to himself. Every hour that we waste here, the more time Naraku gets to collects shards and plan his insidious plots.

'Nevertheless taking a break once in a while shouldn't hurt that much' said his conscience. 'You may never admit it publicly but even you are usually grateful for the brief reprieve from those long-winded battles. You can't pull that tough-guy act with me.'

By this time, they were at the entrance of the town and Inuyasha felt encumbered by a familiar dread as he saw the scenes around him. The town's gates were wide open and there was a small queue of people carrying all sorts of wares from agricultural produce to bales of fine cloth. It must be market day. The traders were probably queued up to pay the tax on their wares. His group didn't have anything to sell and so should manage to get in without difficulty. But as they expected the sentry at gate used his rather large Nagamaki sword to block their entry.

"Halt, you cannot enter this town demon," said the sentry, addressing Inuyasha and ignoring the rest.

Miroku stepped forward and put on his most charming expression. "Oh him, he's just a half-demon and he's completely harmless. I assure you of this. I'm a holy monk who has performed countless exorcisms and sacraments on innumerable demons. Furthermore, these lovely ladies travelling with me are a priestess and a demon-slayer. Do you think that people such as us would keep the company of a harmful demon, much less vouch for him?"

The sentry appeared a bit baffled at that and he looked in turn at all their entire group, mostly focusing on Inuyasha. Shippo had morphed into a cute human girl and was desperately trying to hide his tail while Kirara was curled up into a ball on Sango's shoulder thereby avoiding suspicion.

"So you claim monk. You have a half-demon and two demons travelling with you. Who knows what havoc they can wreak in our peaceful town?"

The entire group was startled at this and they all gazed at the middle-aged, but lean and healthy looking sentry with bewildered expressions. 'How did he recognize Shippo and Kirara?' they all thought. Most curious and suspicious people were so distracted by Inuyasha that they barely paid much notice to anyone else. This man was very observant.

Even Miroku had lost his cool composure. He was the quickest to recover and quickly changed his expression to one of polite respect. "You are quite perceptive sir. We do indeed have two more demons travelling with us. But if you observe a little more carefully, you'll see that Shippo is just a little kitsune demon with nothing in his arsenal but a bag of childish tricks that can entertain much more than cause harm.

Shippo who had by now poofed into his real form gave Miroku his meanest, toughest glare. He couldn't manage to look anything else but cute, however.

"As for this nekomata here, she's our pet. She won't do any harm to anyone unless she senses malice from them. The same goes for this hanyou. You seem quite competent and from the little that I can see of your town from the outside I believe you have sufficient means to take care of any trouble within it."

"That's because we avoid it entirely by refusing entry to potential ruffians and demons," bellowed the sentry. "We are competent yes. There are more than a hundred soldiers in this town. But I don't see any reason to let your rabble in."

"Forget it Miroku," said Inuyasha. "I never go where I'm not wanted. Don't plead for me anymore. I'm tired of listening to this fat guard. You don't want us in your precious town, runt? Well don't worry. I won't step in if you begged me."

Before the guard could make a reply, a distinctly feminine scream came from behind him, shattering their cold tableau. He turned behind and a highly disheveled woman about his age appeared, carrying a crying infant in her arms. "Heisuke," she said to the guard, "There's a huge demon attacking the barracks. At least fifty men have died and many more are being slaughtered. No sooner did she say this that a screaming mob appeared behind her. There were at least thirty people, all bloody, heavily bruised with their clothing in tatters. "Help, help," screamed one as he ran at top-speed away from the rest. Another man in the mob, bleeding heavily from a huge gash on his shoulder collapsed on the mud right in front of them. They all stared at him. There was no movement. He was certainly dead but everyone was too frightened to check.

Another man, his left arm cleanly cut off, limped towards the guard who was previously addressing Inuyasha's group. "Heisuke," he murmured, "the barracks have been destroyed and the town is under attack. We did our best but the soldiers within have been slaughtered. It's up to you and the rest here to… you have to…"

Heisuke grabbed him by the shoulders and said, "What Fusazane? Did you see what manner of demon it was? Did you…"

The limping man collapsed against Heisuke and slid to the ground, never to rise again.

Another woman among the mob was more helpful. She was much less injured than the rest, with only a few bruiseson the visible parts of her body. By now all the guards at the gate had gathered around them. The other people standing around, the traders had made themselves scarce long-ago as soon as the bloody mob had appeared. Only Inuyasha and his gang remained with Heisuke and the rest.

The woman who was less injured and able to speak coherently said, "It's a terrifying, twenty foot demon. It has large fangs and white hair. It's crushing everything around it with its fists. It simply came out of nowhere only minutes ago. One moment we were standing in the market, buying necessities and the next there's screaming and bloodshed all around. I think the demon came from the west side of the town. Screaming people ran here claiming that he had destroyed the barracks and we fled with them."

Still more people poured out of the town gate. Some of them ran up to the guards. A kid with a bloody eye-socket in place of his left eye screamed, "The demon is heading toward the shrine."

A few of the others echoed the kid's message. The guards all instantly tensed up at that.

"We can't let anything happen to the shrine," said Heisuke, "Lady Sayuri is in there. We have to save her. She is the beating heart of this town"

At the mention of the word 'Lady', Miroku's ears perked up and he said, "Um… guardsmen, we shall help you defeat this demon and defend your town."

They all turned to look at him. "You, didn't I tell you and your rabble to leave. As you can see, we have enough trouble."

"We are leaving," shouted Inuyasha, "we'd never even dream of helping you."

"See how it is," said Heisuke looking at the hanyou angrily, "No sooner do demons turn up that havoc follows. This is too convenient to be a coincidence."

Inuyasha's ears twitched at that and his hand instinctively went for Tessaiga's hilt. 'If it's a fight this man wants… he thought.

Kagome noticing this, immediately caught hold of the hanyou's wrist. "Wait Inuyasha," she said fixing him with an intensely pleading gaze. It stilled him instantly. She turned to the guard. "Despite what you think of demon's, Heisuke sama, this one here can help you. Believe me when I say that he has a compassionate heart and overlook his demonic appearance for now. Me and my companions will assist you in defeating this demon. All we need is your trust."

Heisuke and the other townspeople were overcome by the passionate sincerity in Kagome's voice and appearance and they stared at her in bewilderment. Inuyasha broke the spell by saying, "Hey! He just insulted me. If you think I'm gonna help more worthless humans especially ones who insult me, then you're the dumbest wench I…"

"_SIT_"

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><p>Three hours later…<p>

Inuyasha and the gang were in front of the five storied pagoda that they had previously admired from the hilltop. It was even more grand-looking up close. But no one took the time to even glance at iy now. Everyone one was occupied with the wreckage around them. The beautiful houses that had earned their enamor just an hour ago were now all leveled to the ground, with their fragments scattered around amidst human corpses and blood.

The surviving townspeople too were gathered around, some just staring blankly, some moaning out in anguish and some like Heisuke and the less injured young woman, whose name was Momoko, were organizing aid for the wounded. Kagome and Sango were with them, doing all they could to bandage, clean and comfort the injured. Inuyasha and Miroku helped some of the men to clear out the debris and search for all the corpses. It was approaching night-time and they were all exhausted with the fight and their current salvaging efforts.

Luckily the storehouses at the farther edges of the town were intact and volunteers were now bringing in hot porridge that they had cooked on a big fire out in the open. They were far from achieving normalcy, but slowly a weary calmness had settled around everyone and bit by bit, even the anguished were recovering their composure and making an effort to help.

It was close to mid night when everyone settled into exhausted slumbers, some on futons that were battered but still intact, while some on the cold hard ground. A few of the guard stood watch, sharing three hour shifts. Kagome was clustered with her companions, Inuyasha and Sango on either side of her, while the taijya had managed to keep the hanyou, Kagome, Kirara and Shippo between herself and a disappointed Miroku.

Miroku's, "Sango, when I offered to share my body heat with you I only meant that…" had earned him a jaw-breaking punch and ear splitting whack. She was confident that he wouldn't try his tricks on her. At least for tonight. Nevertheless, she kept one arm around Hiraikotsu just in case. 'There was no trusting that lecherous monk.'

The night slowly gave way to morning and they all woke up to a blazing yellow dawn. After a filling breakfast of grain porridge, everyone settled into the rebuilding efforts. Very quickly, it was time for lunch.

Inuyasha was holding a gigantic wooden wall, that was still intact and carrying it towards one of the makeshift storage sheds when Heisuke approached him. The hanyou instantly stiffened and his eyes crackled with anger. The guardsman was smiling at him though. "You have my apologies Inuyasha. You truly have a compassionate heart and noble soul. Not only did you kill the demon yesterday, you stayed behind to help rebuild our town. Anyone else would have run away."

Inuyasha just gave him a bored look at that. He was about to say that he couldn't care less about this dumb town. If not for Kagome and her subjugation command…"

"You are the most honorable half-demon I have met. Not that there is any abundance of those. In fact, there is only one other that I know of."

"If you don't mind Heisuke, I'd like to get on with whatever I'm doing…"

"Of course. But I have brought an invitation for you. Our great lady Sayuri wishes to see you. If you could take a break now and…"

"Say," said Inuyasha, throwing the large piece of wood in his hand onto a huge pile of the same. "Where was this lady of yours yesterday? I didn't see her helping with the demon or even coming out to our aid later."

"The lady Sayuri resides in our holy shrine. It's the only undamaged structure that remains standing in our town."

"You mean that great pagoda?"

"Indeed. She is a holy priestess and I'm certain that it's the enormity of her spiritual powers that left our shrine unsullied. That's why she must never come out. She is too valuable…"

"A priestess of great spiritual powers you say. Then why didn't she come out and purify the demon?"

"She cannot, she… it's only because of her that we have survived and the town still stands, although on a crippled leg."

'Oh jeez,' thought Inuyasha, 'If I hadn't been here.'

"But you must see her."

"Hmm… okay. Take me to her," he said while thinking, 'if only to get away from this useless mucking around, rebuilding and shit…'

* * *

><p>As soon as they entered the large pagoda, Inuyasha's senses tingled as he sensed a demonic aura. 'In this shrine!' he thought.<p>

This way, said Heisuke, leading Inuyasha to an elaborate, spiral staircase. With every step up, Inuyasha sensed the demonic energy getting stronger. What was he being led to?

They finally approached a large, gilded door that opened into a cavernous chamber. On entering, Inuyasha was momentarily stunned by the beauty surrounding him. It was like stepping into a color whorl. All around him he could see elaborate flowers of every color possible, interspersed with green leaves and shrubs. Was he in a forest? There were butterflies swirling around and grass at his feet. Where was he?

As his eyes adjusted to the riot of color he could make out a black circle in front of him in the centre of the room. At first it was unremarkable, just an aberration in the sparkling beauty around him but slowly, it started to clear and he could see a black robed, heavily veiled figure in the centre. He turned to where Heisuke was only to see that he had disappeared.

"This is all an illusion," said a feminine voice. "Only I am real."

The voice was coming from the figure in the centre and as Inuyasha realized this, the pretty scenery around him disappeared until all he could see was the black-robed, figure. Its face was hidden by heavy a black veil.

He pulled out Tessaiga and pointed it at the figure. "Who are you and what kind of trick is this?" he shouted.

"The people of this town that you're in call me lady Sayuri, a great priestess. And indeed I have led them to believe such. In the previous village that I was, they called me Reika, a great healer as I had led them to believe. You can call me…"

"Shut your trap. You're a demon. You reek of an aura that's demonic and familiar to me but I can't place it. Tell me the truth who the hell are you and…"

At that, the black figure removed her veil. It revealed a pale face, emerald eyes and long, long, white hair.

Inuyasha's eyes widened and the face before him gave a wide, pink smile. But he wasn't looking at that. Something at the top of her head captured his attention.

"As I was saying, you can call me, onee san. I am your sister."

Inuyasha's voice failed him as he stared at nothing but her ears. They were a perfect replica of his, twitching with every word she said… her scent reeked a little of his own… and of… Sesshomaru's…"

"What the hell…"


	2. Fire

Chapter 2: Fire

"I am your sister," she said again.

Inuyasha was too stunned to speak. When he tried to, his mouth refused to form a coherent sentence. 'What the hell?!' he thought. Normally he always had a scorching retort ready for exactly such situations. But there was something about this woman. No, not a human woman. A female half demon. She had the same long hair as his or for that matter Sesshomaru's. Where his and Sesshomaru's were unbound and free flowing hers were coiled into a tight, elaborate braid that snaked about her curved body and ended at her feet. That wasn't enough to justify her claim though. But her scent…

He raised the drawn-out Tessaiga even further and walked slowly towards her. "Explain yourself, woman."

She gave a tinkling laugh at that and the mirth in her laughter caught him off guard.

"My my, Inuyasha. Is this any way to greet your sister…"

" Huh! Sister! How come I have never heard of you before? You are not what you claim to be. You have fooled the people here into thinking that you're a priestess but we know very well that anyone with demonic blood cannot possess spiritual powers. Who are you? Pathetic wench."

She raised a silky white eyebrow at that and widened her amused green eyes at him. "Come come, brother. Do not be so quick to judge. Like you, I'm a half demon and have had my share of hardships. Let's just say that unlike you, I chose to be less… forthright with people about my ancestry."

"Feh! You can't hide demon blood."

"Ah, but you can, at least from humans. Disoriented creatures that they are, with no senses to guide them. I have a rather clever trick for demons too though."

"Yeah yeah, save it for someone who cares wench. You are nothing to me. But tell me one thing. Your scent; it's similar to mine. It can't be a trick, my nose can't be fooled. I give you one last chance before I impale you on Tessaiga. Who are you and what do you want from me?"

She seemed unfazed by his statement. He couldn't be certain whether she had any armor on, underneath the robes and veil but he didn't want to kill her. Damn! This situation was getting stranger by the minute.

She closed her eyes for a bit and sighed. "You are as stubborn as otosan and Sesshomaru. I never wanted to seek you out and you would have remained unaware of my existence if not for… never mind. You won't believe me if I tell you now. So let me say this first. The reason you've never heard of me before was because our father himself never knew about me. He remained ignorant of it till his dying day."

"Who is your mother then?" said Inuyasha despite himself.

She glanced at him amusedly, once again quirking her eyebrow and twitching her ears, her eyes glinting with amusement. "Getting interested are we…"

"Its nothing like that…"

"My mother too was a half-demon."

"Then you're…"

"Three-quarters demon to be specific. But that does little to change my mix-breed status, doesn't it."

"As I was saying, my mother was a half-demon born of a great tiger yokai sorceress and a human lord, over a thousand years ago. It was from my grandmother that my mother inherited the ability of shape-shifting and illusions which she subsequently passed down to me. Since time immemorial, demons of my clan have created the most elaborate of illusions to hustle all living beings, demon and human alike…"

"I'm not here to listen to your pathetic sob-story, demon. Get to the point and get there fast."

"My my, impatient one, though you talk more than Sesshomaru."

"You've met him. He knows about you? And you're still alive!" said an incredulous Inuyasha.

"Yes, it was hard to locate him but I only managed to a week ago. He was, as you are, less than pleased to learn of my existence. He said he wanted nothing to do with me. But I need him, as I need you. And I shan't rest until I accomplish my task."

"What are you talking about?"

"If you'll let me get to it. Now where was I? Oh yes, my ancestry. You see, with too much interbreeding, the virility of my clan had dwindled over several years and my grandmother was the best of the lot. She still retained the grandeur of our tiger yokai forefathers and everyone was keen to see that she make a suitable match with a powerful demon. It was the only way to salvage our blood. The one chosen for her was your very own father, Inu no Taisho, a dog demon. He was just a prince then and so much younger than my grandmother, at least by a thousand years. She wasn't too eager about the match and neither was your father. It was about that time that she fell in love with a human lord, who was as handsome as the summer sky with hair that rivaled the sun for its splendor or at least that's what the ballads say…"

"This is all very well but I'm not interested in history. So your grandma jilted my old man who years later married her daughter so what?"

She laughed again and Inuyasha was struck by how familiar it sounded. It reminded him of someone… certainly not his father whom he had never met, nor Sesshomaru; the bastard was born with a permanent scowl. Then who…"

"After my grandmother married the human lord, the tiger tribe's alliance with the dog yokai was broken and your father's tribe attacked us. No one survived except for grandmother herself who had gone into hiding with her human lord. When she learned of the destruction that she had wrought, she committed suicide by jumping into a chasm of fire. Her husband was devastated but he had my mother who was only a month old and therefore, thankfully unaware of her tragic ancestry.

He did his best to care for her but he was far away from his hometown and a midst strangers. The added shock of his competent wife's death didn't help matters much and he didn't linger in the living realm for long. My mother was all alone now and just ten years old at the time of her father's death. Ten years, as you know in the life of a half-demon isn't much and she was little more than a toddler.

Inuyasha remained silent as let the woman's incredible tale sink in. Was this all true. His father's tribe, that half demon infant…

It was then that she was saved by our father, Inuyasha. He entered the village like a demi-god and swept my baby mother into his arms. You see, when he had learned about the tiger yokai's fate, he too was devastated. He was… my father was a compassionate demon, a good demon and he ordered the deaths of the all the generals who had led the attack on the tiger yokai. He took mother in as his ward and it was deemed his first kindness to humans and half-demons.

At that a tear dropped from the emerald eyes of the hanyo before him and Inuyasha realized that she was crying. Her pretty face was contorted into a miserable expression and she was silent for several seconds.

"What do you need me for?" asked Inuyasha, quietly.

She raised her eyes to look at him with such intensity that he felt frightened. Too shocked to do anything but return her intense gaze, he stood silent.

"After… after our father took my mother in, she stayed with him for over four hundred years. As it always happens in these situations, she grew to love him and surprisingly he returned her feelings. Unlike her mother, she was just the right age for him and both of them were brimming with youthfulness. By this time, mother had learned about her tiger yokai ancestry from several second hand sources. She had tried to master much of the forgotten magic and illusions that our clan was so much famous for but with little success. What knowledge she had was from ancient archives and they too were fleeting, mostly kept by humans for demons, who live for ages have no need of such.

But she didn't care. Her only ambition in life was to marry our father and she was too young to care for much else. But unlike grandmother, she had nothing to offer him. She had no great tribe to negotiate her alliance, no wealth or titles and she was a half-demon. She would bring nothing but dishonor upon them. By then, father was again betrothed into another political alliance. And though he loved mother, he intended to carry on with it. The memory of the broken alliance with the tiger yokai was all too clear even after so many years. He didn't want to end up repeating history.

Mother was furious and so she left him. He didn't go back for her. He didn't know that she was with child and he remained blissfully unaware of my existence, dying ignorant. But the fire of hatred consumed my mother. She hated him, she hated the dog demons who she blamed for the devastation of the tiger yokai clan, and she hated his offspring, his demon wife and his human lover. She learnt whatever she could of the ancient tiger yokai secrets. She had all of grandmother's powers and she taught them diligently to me. The only thing that she didn't pass on was her all consuming hatred. She vowed revenge and she raised me to be a tool for your death and destruction of your clan.

Inuyasha tensed and once again raised Tessaiga at her. "Is that what you've brought me here for?" he shouted.

"On the contrary, I'm here to seek your aid, against my… my mother. When she learned of father's death, she vowed to take out her revenge on his sons. She has placed a curse over me and until I fulfill my task of killing you and your brother, I can't get rid of it."

"What curse? What are you talking about?"

She smiled at that. "My, my, where are my manners. We've been together for over an hour and I haven't even told you my name yet. It's not any of those aliases I use. I am princess Mizuki of the tiger yokai as I'm the only surviving grandchild of the great sorceress. The title is redundant though, seeing as none of the clan live. I like to indulge myself though. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think? But to you, Inu chan, I'm simply 'onee-san' and that is how you shall henceforth address me."

"All right, _onee san_," said Inuyasha gritting his teeth, "If you aren't here to kill me, what kind of aid do you want? And what the hell makes you think that I'm going to help you."

She smiled that same annoying smile again and Inuyasha was infuriated.

"Oh you will help me, Inu chan… that is, if you want to see your companions again."

"What?"

"Ha ha ha. Okay, it's now time for the moment of truth. You see, this isn't a real town. None of the people you saw here were real. No monster had attacked a village. It was all a trap to lure you and your companions and the best way to achieve that was to distract you with this elaborate ruse. It's much easier for us illusionists to prey on an unguarded mind."

"This pagoda that we are standing in is the only real object here and I've trapped your friends in its bowels."

"Why you… wait till you get a taste of my Windscar."

Mizuki didn't even flinch just smiled belligerently, annoying the hell out of Inuyasha.

"Wait you…I'll wipe that smirk of your face… _WINDSCAR"_

The moment he said it he saw the waves of blinding energy emerge from Tessaiga and reach towards the female hanyo with lightning speed. She didn't move from the way though and neither did her smile wane. If anything, it seemed to grow wider.

A few moments passed and the windscar abated. However, the female was still standing.

'How can it be?' thought Inuyasha, 'I unleashed the full power of the windscar on her and she's still standing without even a scratch.'

"You see Inuyasha, you are powerless to defeat me. I shall explain my purpose to you in time. For now, I want you to seek out Sesshomaru and recruit him to my cause. Where I failed, surely you shall succeed."

With that, she disappeared and Inuyasha felt as if he was spinning and spinning until he could make out almost nothing. By the time he regained his senses he found himself standing in a desolate land with no buildings save the large pagoda, in sight. It was right in front of him and he searched about frantically for any familiar landmarks. Gone was the village from yesterday. The lake, the villagers, the walls. He was in no man's land. Where was Kagome? And Shippo, Miroku and Sango…

He ran as quickly as he could toward the enormous entrance of the pagoda. The heavy wooden doors were bolted. "KAGOME, KAGOME" he screamed at the top of his lungs. He only heard maniacal laughter in response.


	3. Thoughts

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS CREATED BY RUMIKO TAKAHASHI**

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><p>Chapter 3: Thoughts<p>

She was in a dream. No not a dream, a nightmare! She looked about her; there was just darkness, endless, limitless darkness. She tried running, as fast as possible, in search of light. But there was none. Even though she ran till she was breathless, there was no light to be found. Had she become blind? Why didn't she bump into anything then?

"Inuyasha!" she screamed but she got nothing. "Where are you Inuyasha?" It was then that the tears came and she cried her heart out, screaming intermittently for him. "Where are you?" she sobbed. _And most importantly, where am I_? She searched her memory but she could recall nothing. She lay silent, crouching, sobbing but resolute. 'Is this what it's like to be dead? Am I dead?'

Then she remembered her companions, 'Miroku, _Sango and Shippo. They were right with me when… when… Oh why can't I remember anything_?'

She got up again and ran some more, just to shake off the frustration. It was then that she heard, "Sango… Kagome…"

It was Miroku's voice! "MIROKU SAMA!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Is that you Kagome? Can you see me? I certainly can't see you."

"No I can't see you. But it's so wonderful to hear your voice. You've never sounded so fantastic. Where are we? Where's Inuyasha?..."

"I'm very flattered, Kagome. As for the questions, I can answer only one. We are in a very adroit, illusionary trap. It's a mind trap. While are bodies are safe and sound somewhere, our minds are being manipulated by some powerful demon."

"Mind control?"

"Yes. It's rather elaborate. We can hear each other's voices but we won't be able to see or touch. That's because our bodies aren't here. We are trapped in our own minds."

"Our own mind! But then, how do we get out? Out of our own mind…"

"I have heard of such powers. They were said to be possessed by tiger yokai. But from what I can recall, the entire clan had been wiped out many, many years ago."

"Then who could be doing this?"

"I don't know. From what I know about mind control, the one who lays such a trap usually preys on our trust. They go to great pains in order to create an elaborate illusion that makes us comfortable and we let down our guard. It's then that we are most vulnerable to their influence. Humans are particularly prone to this."

"But what do they want?"

"I don't know. Usually all demons wish to eat and possess the souls of humans. But I don't think that it's the case here."

"They go to great pains to create elaborate illusions…" said Kagome, "Wait! Miroku sama. What illusion did they create for us?"

"Well… this darkness itself is an illusion. We are surrounded by it. This is certainly a very powerful and skilled demon who possesses no dearth of faculties to keep us here for an exceptional length of time."

"No, I meant before that. You said that they create elaborate illusions to let our guard down. So before trapping us here, we were definitely tricked into trusting someone."

"Why yes! You're right Kagome sama. We definitely have been tricked. But I seem to have no previous memory."

"Neither do I," said Kagome dejectedly.

They were silent for a few moments, each of them lost in their own apprehensions.

"Hey, Miroku?"

"Yes, Kagome?"

"What about the others? Sango, Shippo, Kirara and… Inuyasha? Are they in this trap too?"

"Yes, they must be. I tried searching for everyone. You're the only I found."

"Then we should search for them."

"We could try. But it won't be easy. I only managed to find you by thinking a lot."

"Thinking?"

"Yes. It was part of my monk training. We were taught about such illusionist demons even though they were rumored to be long dead. The ability of the demon to trap you lies in his or her powers of concentration and overwhelming your mind. Apart from their natural talent at telepathy and mind-control, these demons have several years of training in concentration and overcoming a person's mental barriers."

"Goodness! But how will thinking too much help. Won't it just give us a headache?"

"Yes. But in this realm, we have no other weapons. Our bodies aren't here to assist us so we cannot use our physical prowess. You do not have your bow and arrow. Even if you did, what will you shoot at? There's nothing here. I do not have my wind tunnel. Sango, wherever she is, is devoid of her Hiraikotsu."

'_And Inuyasha won't have his Tessaiga_,' added Kagome silently.

"So you see how cunning a trap this is Kagome? In the feudal era here, everyone is trained to overcome their enemies physically. We are completely reliant of our bodies and our five senses. Very rarely is the warrior taught the virtue of his mind. The same applies to demons. They are usually powerful physically but fall short in their mental faculties."

"Yes, I see that Miroku sama. But not being able to see anything is driving me crazy."

"That is what the demons seeks to do. It wants to overwhelm our minds so that it can gain complete control of us. Under no circumstances should you let that happen."

"But what am I to do?"

"Think! Think complicated thoughts. I was thinking about my sacred training and all the information that I have gleaned. That's how I managed to overcome the demon's mental barrier and find you. I weakened it's concentration by overwhelming it with my intricate thoughts."

"So that's all we need to do?"

"Yes. This demon has managed to prevent us from recalling our short term memory of the past few hours or days. That means it doesn't want us to remember how we got here. So that's what we have to remember! And the only way to do that is by breaking the yokai's concentration and overwhelming it with our thoughts. In between, try to search your memory for recent events. When you start recalling it bit by bit, you'll know you've achieved success."

'_All right!_' thought Kagome, 'If _that's what it takes to get back with Inuyasha. Be prepared demon, for all my 9__th__ grade knowledge of trigonometry, calculus, history, geography, chemistry… And I thought I'd never have to use any of these subjects! Hurray for the Japanese education system!'_

* * *

><p>The headaches began again and she cursed loudly. "Oh stop. Stop all that!" she shouted.<p>

Then the bombardment began 'S_ine squared theta plus cos squared theta is equal to one. Sine of A plus B is equal to Sine A Cos B plus Cos A Sine B. Sine of A minus B is equal to…_'

Stop!

_'Energy can neither be created, nor destroyed. It can only be converted from one form to another. Thus the total amount of energy in the universe remains constant. Energy can neither be created nor…_

She did her best but the chanting wouldn't stop. 'What _is this human girl thinking about? I have never heard of such things._'

Then it began again. 'A_vogadro's law states that equal volumes of all gases at the same temperature and pressure have the same number of molecules. Avogadro's law states that…_'

'_What is all this? It sounds so… so alien_' thought Mizuki. That monk was enough; she could just about handle him. But this girl and her alien words were worse than cannon balls. They were cracking her elaborate mental barrier. Her concentration was weakening. Already she was exhausted by creating illusions for the demon slayer, kitsune and two others. But this monk and priestess were proving tiresome."

Then it began again, 'T_he Estates-General was organized into three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of France. The Estates-General was organized into three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of France. On 26 August 1789, the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. 26 August 1789, the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen…_'

"STOP ITTTTTTTT" screamed Mizuki.

* * *

><p>Kagome was feeling giddy with excitement. '<em>I'm having a great time<em>' she thought as she narrated another trig formula. It was difficult at first but all she had to do was recall any nugget of information and repeat it until she got bored of it and thought of a new one. '_It isn't so hard once you get the hang of it._'

She searched her memory for any recent events and to her surprise she remembered a village. It had big houses in the centre, small colorful cottages at the edges and a big… big…

'_Damn! I lost it again' _thought Kagome. '_But I have to keep trying.'_

She asked Miroku if he had managed to recall anything. He answered in the negative and she shared her memory with him. "It seems familiar," he said, "You are good at this Kagome sama. Your mind is adapting naturally and is growing powerful by the minute. The… school in your era seems to have strengthened your mental faculties. I wish we had something like that here."

Kagome giggled at that. '_And here I thought school was useless'!' _ With that, she once again began to chant the conservation of energy principle…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **This chapter was quite amusing to write. I have no idea about what is taught in the 9th grade in Japan but it can't be too different from what's taught the world over, right? Anyway, in the next chapter Sesshomaru appears and just as in the series there will be quite a lot of conflict between him and Inuyasha. Thank you for reading so far. Do drop in a review if you have time.


	4. Barriers

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS CREATED BY RUMIKO TAKAHASHI.**

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><p>Chapter 4: Barriers<p>

There are moments in one's life when it is impossible to justify one's actions, even to oneself. Sesshomaru, great daiyokai of the western lands was sure that this was one of them. As he walked along the dusty path, his face a mask of indifferent serenity, he once again pondered over his actions. He was on his way to see his brother Inuyasha… which wasn't surprising by itself… but the purpose of his visit was baffling. He wanted to form an alliance with his brother… half-brother… his hanyo half brother.

_Why am I doing this? _he thought, not for the first time. _Because Rin and Jaken have been kidnapped and I have to save them. Why? What are they to me?_ _Nothing, they are nothing to me… but I can't allow some pathetic, half demon illusionist, sorceress to dishonor my name. That's why I must save them._

The answer didn't satisfy him but he continued to walk forward. He thought about the tiger yokai sorceress. 'Mizuki', she had called herself. She had claimed to be his sister, half-sister again. 'What is it with my father? How many mortal wenches had he gone about impregnating? Inuyasha was enough but…. _Inuyasha_… the very name brought the bile of hatred to his throat. He had hated that hanyo since the day he was born. Father had given up his own life in order to save Inuyasha and his mother. Sesshomaru would never forget that. And neither would he forget the fact that father had seen fit to bequeath _Inuyasha_ with the powerful Tessaiga. _How could father do such a thing? He favored the son who he had known only for a few seconds over the son whom he had known over hundreds of years!_

He recalled his father's last words to him, "_Have you someone to protect?" _

_What had he meant by that? Someone to protect? _Then it hit him. _Is that what I'm doing, protecting Jaken and… Rin… a mere mortal? He recalled Rin's smile, innocent… foolish. Yet the girl seemed to evoke in him a kind of… tenderness. _

He reddened instantly at that. _I'm not tender_ he reprimanded, silently. _'The only thing I'm trying to protect is my honor for it's the only thing worth protecting. Not some miserable human._

It was almost twilight when he found his half-brother. Inuyasha was kneeling in front of a rather ornate pagoda in the middle of a desolate land. There was not another building in sight. Nor where those wretched humans he travelled with. What was he doing here all by himself?

Sesshomaru was still too far away for Inuyasha to detect his scent. He took the time to observe the hanyo. He wasn't looking up. He had his head towards the ground and all Sesshomaru could make out was his mane of white hair from the top. _This was strange! _The daiyokai waited a few more minutes but the hanyo didn't rise. He was as still as death. But he wasn't dead.

Before Sesshomaru could make a move, the hanyo suddenly rose up and screamed, "KAGOMEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

_Kagome, _the name of the human girl who travelled with him. Why was he screaming it out? He took one more look at his brother's disconsolate countenance before he realized the startling truth. _'She too must have been kidnapped along with his other companions._

For some reason, that seemed to relieve Sesshomaru. Perhaps that would make his brother desperate enough to plead for his help. It would save Sesshomaru the humiliation of asking for hated brother's aid. He moved closer and closer until he was only a few feet away from the hanyo who had gone still once again.

By this time Inuyasha had picked up his scent and slowly, turned to face his yokai half-brother. There was weariness in the hanyo's eyes and he instinctively reached for Tessaiga's hilt. Within seconds, it was drawn out and Sesshomaru was confronted with its sharp sword point. He stared at it unfazed then turned his eyes to Inuyasha. The rage in them mirrored the one he felt in his heart. Without preamble, he said, "I do not know why father chose you over me for this sword but were he alive, he would have lived to regret his decision."

Inuyasha smirked at that, "Nice to see you too, Sesshomaru. What kind of game are you playing?"

"Game?"

"You and that Mizuki wench. She had the same scent as yours… and mine. Who is she?"

"I have not come to answer your impudent questions."

"Oh, yeah, then what have you come for? To take delight in my misery?"

The daiyokai didn't answer and the two half brothers locked gazes for what seemed like an endless length of time, neither flinching or wavering, just staring at the other with cool concentration.

It was Sesshomaru who broke the silence. "Where are those wretched humans that you travel with?"

"Is that what you've come to ask?"

"Yes."

"All right. They were taken captive, by a half-demon who claims to be our sister. Know anything about that?"

Sesshomaru said nothing.

"Just going to stand there still are you? She even mentioned that she met you."

The daiyokai remained silent.

"Reluctant to volunteer information are we? Well I'll tell you how this is gonna work. You tell me about her or I'll blow your head off with Tessaiga."

As expected, the threat did little to alter the daiyokai's cool countenance, however he replied, "I don't know any more than you do."

"Then why are _you _here?"

"Because she sent me to bring you to her."

"Since when do you run errands for half-demons?"

That spurred the daiyokai's anger and he spoke in a voice that barely concealed his rage, "I am not running an errand. That woman is a sorceress whose very body was an illusion. There was no way to kill her in the form in which she appeared. If I can take you to her and learn what she seeks, she might appear in her true form enabling me to hasten her departure from the living realm."

"That seems an awful lot of trouble for you to kill one hanyo."

"She has dishonored me and father, just as you do, everyday that you live. Putting an end to your miserable lives is the least that I can do for you."

Inuyasha gave a mirthless laugh at that. "I'm touched by your kindness Sesshomaru. So she really is our sister?"

"I do not care. You will come with me. We have been instructed to meet her at the base of a mountain to the east of here. I know the way."

With that, the daiyokai turned and began to walk in the aforementioned direction. Inuyasha stood just where he was. "And what gives you the right to order me around, huh? Why should I come with you?"

Sesshomaru didn't halt in his even paced stride as he said, "Because you want to save your wretched humans."

* * *

><p>' <em>x plus y the whole squared is equal to x squared plus two into x into y plus y squared. x minus y the whole squared is equal to x squared minus two into x into y plus y squared. x plus y the whole cubed…'<em>

Mizuki wanted to wring the human miko's neck. She was proving too much for her. Already she had broken down one of her mental barriers and was pelting away at the second. Mizuki felt exhausted.

'_That's enough'_ she thought. '_I do not possess my own body. Until I deliver Sesshomaru and Inuyasha to mother, I too am trapped in this hopeless mind game.'_

She sighed. Her own mother had trapped her the way she had reluctantly trapped these humans and demons. Although she had plenty of room for maneuvering, not being able to see or feel your own body was an agony beyond comparison. She knew first-hand what they were going through and couldn't help but feel an unwilling sympathy towards their situation. '_All this… all this drama for a thousand year-old heartbreak,' _she thought, '_that's it.'_

"_MOTHERRRRRR" _she screamed as loudly as she could. "_I need to talk to you right now."_

* * *

><p>Somewhere in another desolate, empty darkness, a little girl sobbed fitfully, <em>"Lord Sesshomaru, Master Jaken… where are you?" <em>she cried for the nth time. Horus had passed. No days. It was impossible to tell. She could see nothing. It was so dark…

'_Am I truly dead?' _she thought discouragingly. '_Am I dead, like mamma and papa? Is this what it's like to be dead? What about Lord Sesshomaru?'_

'_Lord Sesshomaru…'_ Rin felt so frightened. Never had she been so frightened in her whole life. Not even when those wolves had attacked her. '_I'd rather be attacked by a hundred wolves than be parted from Lord Sesshomaru'_ she thought bravely. She didn't feel very brave though. She wanted to cry again. But she wouldn't. Lord Sesshomaru hated tears. But where was he? She couldn't take it anymore. She had to see him, _now._

"LORD SESSHOMARU..." _she screamed._

* * *

><p>A few hundred paces away from a tall mountain, a silent daiyokai, stilled in his steps. He had heard something. Someone had called out to him. He looked around. All he could see was the mountain path, some sparse vegetation and his impudent half brother who was looking at him strangely.<p>

"Why have we stopped?" said Inuyasha. "Don't you wanna go through with this?"

So it hadn't been Inuyasha who had called out to him. Then again, it had seemed to be a feminine voice. A little girl's in fact, '_Rin…'_

She was calling out to him. She must have been trapped somewhere by that sorceress. Realizing that, Sesshomaru calmly turned around and resumed his journey forward while his puzzled half-brother stared after him.

* * *

><p>Mizuki felt as if she had received a severe blow to the head. Another of her mental barriers had been shattered. And not by that clever human teenager of even the annoying monk. It was that little mortal who had done the deed… Rin; from whom she had expected the least resistance.<p>

'_What is it with these humans' _thought Mizuki. '_I have trapped countless powerful demons before in the same way and none of them have ever caused even half the damage that these pathetic beings are causing. Why, this little girl broke away my second barrier within an instant. What kind of power does she possess? What is it that drives her to such vigor? Is she in love with Sesshomaru? No, she's just a small child'_

* * *

><p>"Miroku sama!" exclaimed a delighted Kagome, "I have recalled quite a bit now. We were in a large town that had been attacked by a demon. We had helped the townspeople defeat it but the town had almost been destroyed so we had stayed on to help."<p>

"You're right Kagome sama, even I have managed to regain that memory. The demon trapping us has weakened considerably thanks to our efforts; though much too sooner than I expected. But we're still lacking some important piece of information. This won't be over till we regain it. We need to redouble our efforts."

"Gladly," said Kagome.


End file.
